Frost
When a film decides it is going to go in on a bleak finale, it’s important that said ending feels earned, and that we’ve gotten an experience. In “Frost,” I’m conflicted, because narratively, I feel as though it was earned, but I don’t know that the execution is there to make me feel that way completely.
“Frost” is a survival thriller which shows us the character in distress before flashing back to three days earlier. Abby (Devanny Pinn) is going to visit her father for the first time in a long time. They have been distant for some time, but Abby is hoping a grandchild on the way brings them closer. After a rough start, things seem to thaw between Abby and Grant (Vernon Wells). That’s good, because when they get in a car accident on a drive, they only have each other to rely on.
When something just feels off about a film’s score, I immediately am not sure what to think about a movie. During the opening credits, composer Fernando Perdomo sets the tone early, but the synths he deploys feel too heavy for the movie as I watched it. Nominally, the score hits all the beats it’s intended to, but it feels too intrusive when most of what we’re watching is isolated to one location. Given the film as a whole, it feels as though it’s overcompensating for the movie in general.
Screenwriter Robert Thompson lays out a pretty straightforward narrative that unfolds, and director Brandon Slagle does a fair job staging it. But the film’s survival story stalls due to a lack of set pieces and suspense moments, which does not aid the film’s 80-minute running time. Part of that is inherent to the story, but I felt as though more could have been done to keep momentum moving as it was building to its climax.
We will end this review as it begins, with the ending. As the film progresses, it’s not surprising how the film comes to an ending, and yes, it does earn that ending. Having said that, there are moments built into that inevitability that feel ugly, and outright cruel, as though “Frost” had it out for our main characters. That’s where the film loses me, and what makes me feel even more distressed by the film that preceded it.
